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Bonfire and Music on Stearns Beach

How can one not bond with Bond Falls? I fell in love with Bond Falls the first time I visited there years ago. The magnificent Michigan Upper Peninsula waterfall has been drawing me back ever since. It was nearly dark already when my wife, Debbie, and I climbed the stairs to get to this spot during a September 27, 2013 visit. While my mind’s eye was yearning for more daylight, my tripod-mounted camera was able to accumulate enough light during a 30-second exposure to brighten the scene. The outcome from the movement of the water during that time made this my all-time favorite Bond Falls image.

Like a 747 dwarfing the smaller planes at an airport, a mute swan makes a big impact as it touches down near smaller waterfowl on the Sauble River at Ludington State Park.

My dad and I would probably never have ventured across the ice on Lake Superior to the Grand Island Ice Caves if it were not for Facebook. We both spend a lot of time on Facebook looking at other Michigan photographer's work. Several people had been posting excellent photographs of the ice caves near Munising, Michigan and we knew we had to go. We called our friends Mike Schlitt, Bill Dietrich, and Wally Barkley and the five of us made the journey to Grand Island. D7000, F9 at 1/60, ISO 100, 10-20mm lens at 10mm

My son Brad has scaled the much taller, steeper side of this sand dune at Ludington State Park to gain a vantage point from which he can see almost all of Lower Hamlin Lake. However, the world-class sunrise he was hoping for is not happening today.

After a long history of catching fish on the Great Lakes, the fishing tug Richard E. is now moored at the Manistee, Michigan ship museum site. I admire the ruggedness of these sturdy vessels and the men and women who went to sea in them. F5 at 1/80, ISO 3200, 24-70mm lens at 40mm

Through My Eyes

Storm in Grand Haven

Course of Nature

While several of our photography workshop students were working to create strong, unique images at a sunflower field along M-22 near Onekama, a surprise visitor completed my composition.

Falling Down

Kickin

I was on the hunt for beach glass on this chilly morning. I hiked a great distance, armed and ready with my camera and ring flash. Unfortunately, I didn’t find a single piece. Determined to make the trek worth it, I found this heart-shaped rock. I loved the bubbles of water as the waves receded.

Carferry and Ludington Light

Floating lazily down the Sauble River toward Lake Michigan, a maple leaf drifts over rocky shallows. They say good things happen to those who wait; finding a good backdrop and waiting for the subject to come into it is relaxing and often rewarding.

Some trees look almost human as they strike individual poses against the landscape. I was photo hunting in Victory Township, northeast of Ludington, when this tree and the atmosphere surrounding it caught my eye.

O.K. It's really a Baltimore Oriole. But since it was residing in Ludington State Park, and since my three sons and I were Ludington Orioles during high school, I have taken some editorial license. The colorful songbird had probably recently returned from the south when I came upon him in mid-May on the Island Trail.

On Sunday afternoons, Betsy and I often take the kids for a Sunday Drive. I enjoy driving around looking for photographs and spending quality time with my family. Today, just as we were ending our drive for the day, Betsy pointed out an orange cat on the roof of an apartment house in Ludington. I love this photograph. F10.0 at 1/640, ISO 100, 18-50 mm lens at 50 mm

Our workshop students were up to their waists in dewy grasses before sunrise and many of them were on their knees getting their cameras immediate to the wildflowers, grasses and weeds in a field near our Pere Marquette River property. I got down low beside them to immerse myself in the tapestry of spring growth. Six a.m. never looked better to me.

After an incredibly long and hard day of hiking and shooting photographs on Isle Royale, at around 11:30 p.m., my dad and I decided to take a chance and make the short hike to Tobin Harbor to see if the northern lights were out. To our surprise, we could see them as soon as we got onto the seaplane docks. We needed to set up quickly to ensure we got good images before midnight so we could use them in our new Wednesdays book. I knew from past experience I needed a 15-minute exposure. Multiple loons and at least two moose were calling back and forth over the water.